Tool for seating rail anchors



Get. 22, 1935. J RE|LLY 2,017,918

TOOL FOR SEATING RAIL ANCHORS Filed Oct. 20, 1934 I mfenigr PatentedOct. 22, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE This invention relates toimprovements in tools for driving rail anchors longitudinally of therailroad rails, on which they are applied, so as to force the anchordevices into firm contact with the cross-ties or other stationary partsof the roadbed, which serve as abutments for the anchor devices. Theforce exerted against rail anchors of the one-piece yoke type to springor drive the anchor device onto the base portion of a rail does notordinarily serve to move the anchor device into firm seating engagementwith a crosstie. It is important, however, that rail anchoring deviceshave a firm bearing against the crossties, which serve as abutments forthe another devices. Otherwise the railroad rails will move over thecross-ties under the force induced by passing trains, at distancesuflicient to take up the initial looseness between the rail anchors andthe ties. If the several anchor devices should be spaced unequaldistances from the cross-ties,

the initial creeping of the rails will cause the cross-ties firstengaged by said devices to be displaced from their original position inthe ballast of the road-bed. Such displacement of the cross ties willcontinue until the anchor devices have been firmly seated against asumcient number of cross-ties to prevent further creeping movement ofthe rail.

The object of the present invention is to provide an improved tool ofsimple construction which can be used to facilitate the application ofthe rail anchors to their operative engagement with adjacent cross-ties.In this connection the invention contemplates a device which may beconveniently positioned over the head of a rail and into engagement withopposite ends of a rail anchor device. The construction of the toolbeing such that the force of a single hammer blow on the upper end ofthe tool will be distributed equally to the opposite end of the anchordevice and thereby maintain the rail anchor yoke in a positionsubstantially normal to the length of the rail while it is being drivenlongitudinally thereof.

Another object is to provide an improved tool of the above characterwhich may be used in seating rail anchor yokes of various constructions.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparentfrom the description of one embodiment of the invention shown in theaccompanying drawing.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a side view of a portion of a railroad rail showing one formof rail anchor device applied to the base portion of the rail andillustrating a tool constructed in accordance with this inventionapplied to the rail in a position to force the rail anchor device intofirm contact with an adjacent cross tie. I

Fig. 2 is a partial sectional view taken along line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the assembly shown in Fig. 4 is a view inseating tool, andv Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 2 illustrating theuse of the tool member in connection with a rail anchor of difierentform.

The improved tool of this invention is shown in 15 the drawing inconnection with a one-piece rail anchor applied to the rail. The railanchor shown consists of a bar In bent at one end to provide ahook-shaped jaw H adapted to hook over one base flange of the rail 12.The body portion of 20' the anchor is bowed downwardly, as shown at l3,and is adapted to bear against the adjacent vertical face of thecross-tie l4 when the anchor is in its applied position. The end.portion l5 of the anchor projects a substantial distance 25 above therail base and is formed with a notch Hi to receive the edge of the railbase. The said anchor device is applied to the base portion of the railby hooking the jaw ll over one flange perspective oi the anchor 10 ofthe rail base with the. body portion of the 305 anchor extending acrossbeneath the rail in close relation to the cross-tie M. A suitable leverwrench (not shown) is then used to exert a strong upward pressureagainst the downwardly bowed portion of the anchor at substantially theloca- 35 tion indicated by the reference numeral I! (Fig. 2). Suchpressure causes the notched end I5 01 the anchor to snap over the edgeof the rail base to its applied position.

In applying said anchor to a rail it is desirable 40 to locate it asclosely as possible to the cross-tie against which it abuts to resistthe creeping movement of the rail. After the anchor has been forced toits rail gripping position, it may be driven into close contact with thecross-tie by 451 striking opposite ends of the anchor with a tracksledge. This manner of seating the anchor against the cross-tie isundesirable because the hammer blows on alternate endsof the anchor tendto shift it to a position diagonally across 50' the rail base andthereby reduces its gripping efliciency. Also the edge of the anchorpresents but a relatively narrow striking surface and con sequent-1yexposes the workmen to the danger of injury from glancing hammer blows.

In order to overcome the above mentioned and other incidentalobjections, the rail anchor seat ing tool herein shown provides for theapplication of uniform pressure to the opposite ends of the anchordevice while the anchor is being driven longitudinally of the rail. Thesaid seating tool, preferably, comprises a head portion l8 anddownwardly extending arms is and 20 which embrace the head 2| of therail. The distance between the arms is preferably such that theengagement with the side faces of the rail head will maintain the toolin substantial alignment.

with the rail. The lower ends of the arms are bent outwardly, asindicated by the reference numerals 22, 23 and then downwardly, asindicated by the numerals 24, 25. The outwardly bent portions 22-23 ofthe tool engage the portions of the anchor device which projectover theupper surface of the rail base while the downwardly projecting. portions24--25 of the tool engage portions of the'anchonwhich lie below theplane of the bottom surface of the rail. This character of engagementmaintains the anchor device normal to the length of the rail during thedriving of the anchor longitudinally of the rail. Such engagementbetween the tool and the opposite ends of the anchor also prevents theanchor from canting or tilting about a horizontal axis in a manner tocause the jaw portions of the anchor to bite into the top surface of therail base. By distributing the driving force against the top and bottomportions of the hook end of the anchor, these portions of the anchor aremaintained in substantial perpendicular alignment, whereas striking oneof thesaid portions, for example, with a sledge, tends to distort it outof said vertical alignment and thereby impairs the character of grip ofthe device on the rail.

In order to protect the top of the rail from mis-directed hammer blowsthe head portion of the tool is provided with a rearwardly extendingshield member 26 which overlies the top surface of the rail head. Theshield plate is relatively thin and is preferably, though notnecessarily, formed integrally with the head portion l8 of the tool. Thehandle 21 for positioning the tool on the rail extends upwardly andoutwardly from the head [8 of the tool. The said handle portion is shownas broken away in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawing in order to conservespace in the drawing. It will be obvious, however, that the handle maybe made of any desirable length.

While the construction of the improved tool 1 has been described inconnection with a specific form of anchor in which a substantial portionof the anchor projects above the rail base at opposite sides of therail, it will be apparent from inspectionof Fig. 5 that the improvedtool is not limited in its usefulness to any particular form of anchordevice. In Fig. 5 the improved tool is shown in connection with aone-piece rail anchor device provided with a jaw 28 at one end which isforced into gripping engagement with the top and bottom surfaces of thebase flange 29, the other end of the anchor being provided with arelatively low locking shoulder 30 which snaps up over the lower cornerportion of the rail base at the opposite side of the rail to hold theanchor device in its applied position. Should it be found desirable touse the improved tool on this type of rail anchor the engagement of theportions 23 and 25 with the jaw and underrail portion of the anchor atone side of the rail serves to hold the jaw and body portions of theanchor in substantially vertical alignment. The engagement of thedownwardly extending portion 24 of the seating tool with the lockingshoulder end of the anchor insures equal distribution of the drivingforce on opposite ends of the 5 anchor device.

I claim:

1. A rail anchor seating tool comprising a head portion, arms extendingdownwardly from the head and spaced apart to embrace the head por- 10tion of a railroad rail; the lower ends of said arms 1 being providedwith surfaces adapted to seat against portions of the anchor device atopposite sides of the rail whereby application of force to the upper endof the tool is distributed equally to 15 opposite ends of the anchor.

2. A rail anchor seating tool comprising a head portion and spaced armswhich embrace the head portion of a rail and extend downwardly towardthe rail anchor being operated on; the said arms :0 being bent outwardlyand downwardly to provide portions for engaging opposite end portions ofthe rail anchor whereby application of force to the upper ends of thetool is equally distributed to the said opposite ends of the anchor. 25

3. A tool for use in forcing a rail anchor longitudinally of the railand into firm seating engagement with a cross-tie comprising a headportion, and spaced downwardly extending arms which embrace the headportion of the rail and 305 formed at their lower ends with portionsangularly disposed relative to the upper portion of the tool forengaging parts of the anchor which project over the top surface of therail base flange.

4. A tool for use in forcing a rail anchor longi- 35; tudinally of arail and into firm seating engagement with a cross-tie comprising a headportion, and spaced downwardly extending arms which embrace the headportion of the rail and hear at their lower ends against a portion ofthe rail or anchor lying below the plane of the bottom surface of therail base.

5. A tool for use in forcing a rail anchor longitudinally of a rail'andinto firm seating engagement with a. cross-tie comprising a headportion, spaced downwardly extending arms which embrace the head portionof the rail and formed at their lower ends with outwardly and downwardlyextending portions; the outwardly extending portions being adapted torest upon the base flanges of the rail and a downwardly extendingportion adapted to bear against opposite end portions of the rail anchorat locations closely adJacent to the opposite edges of the rail base.

6. A rail anchor seating tool comprising a head portion for receivinghammer blows. spaced arm members connected with a head which, in the.normal position of the tool on a rail, extends diagonally downwardacross the side of the rail for engagement with the rail anchor, and ashield plate adjacent said head portion of the seating tool and adaptedto overlie the top surface of the rail head. g V

7. A rail anchor seating tool comprising a head portion for receivinghammer blows, spaced arm members connected with the head which, in thenormal position of the tool on a rail, extends diagonally downwardacross the side of the rail for engagement with the rail anchor, arelatively thin shield plate positioned on the head to overlie the uppersurface of the rail head at an angle to the top surface thereof, and ahandle extending upwardly from one side of the head portion of the tool.V

8. A rail anchor seating tool comprising a head portion for receivinghammer blows, and spaced downwardly extending arms which embrace therail head and engage with the opposite end portions of the anchor beingseated; the lower ends of said arms being formed with angularly disposedmembers which bear upon the top surface of the rail base at oppositesides of the rail to support the said lower ends of the tool, and theupper end of the tool being provided with a rearwardly extending shieldmember which intervenes between the top surface of the rail and th headportion of the tool.

JOHN F. REILLY.-

